The lowdown on the 2016 Leeds Festival

Tony Harber

With only hours to go until it all gets under way the excitement is mounting ahead of the 2016 Leeds Festival.

Once again Bramham Park is hosting a huge weekend of music and entertainment and it all starts with State Champs on the main stage, Black Foxxes over on the NME/ BBC Radio 1 Stage and sharp Irish comic Andrew Maxwell in the comedy tent around noon tomorrow.

The festival is into its 18th year and shows no sign of slowing down with more than 300 acts set to entertain across nine stages over the Bank Holiday weekend.

Big names from the rock, indie and dance worlds mix with the hot up and comers and some of the country’s finest comedy talents in the north of England’s biggest festival.

This year varies from past events with five headline acts on the main stage instead of the usual three - Biffy Clyro and Fall Out Boy share top of the bill honours on Friday and Foals and Disclosure are joint headliners the following day.

It all wraps up with festival favourites Red Hot Chili Peppers as the main attraction on Sunday night.

A strong opening day line-up sees the joint headliners joined by indie favourites The Vaccines on a main stage line-up that also includes A$AP Rocky and rockers Five Finger Death Punch and Sleeping With Sirens.

Further first day highlights are likely to come from one of the bands of the moment, The 1975, who are headlining the NME/BBC Radio 1 Stage where The Wombats, Savages and Rat Boy are also likely to attract big crowds.

The Lock Up Stage has some great bands on with Good Charlotte top of the bill in their first return to the festival for ages, re-formed band The King Blues set to get the crowd moving and thinking and plenty of pop punk highlights through the day.

The excitement is sure to go on into the second day with Frank Turner opening up proceedings with a special first on slot on the main stage with his band The Sleeping Souls.

The festival veteran never fails to entertain in whatever guise he is appearing and this year he is setting the record for most appearances at the event.

Later in the day it is a bit of an eclectic line-up with Lower than Atlantis, Die Antwoord and Chvrches offering varied fare before the joint headliners.

Elsewhere, Oliver Heldens is a big name on the BBC Radio 1 Dance Stage while Asking Alexandria head up The Pit line-up and Maximo Park make a welcome return as Festival Republic Stage headliners. This stage will also see performances from Leeds’ Pulled Apart By Horses and South Yorkshire band The Sherlocks.

One of the biggest crowds of the day is sure to be over on the Alternative Stage where Russell Howard - used to packing them into arenas on his tours - is appearing to do a stand-up set.

Sunday’s strong main stage line-up includes Imagine Dragons, Courteeners and Eagles Of Death Metal as well as Red Hot Chili Peppers so decent weather will be helpful.

Two Door Cinema Club headline the NME/ BBC Radio 1 Stage where Nas and Sigma will be offering something different and current album chart toppers Blossoms are surprisingly seventh down the list..

Another big name headlines the Alternative Stage with Bill Bailey set to appear while the band reputed to be the loudest in the world, Mastodon, end proceedings in The Pit.

Here’s the full line-up:

FRIDAY

Main Stage: Biffy Clyro, Fall Out Boy, The Vaccines, A$AP Rocky, Five Finger Death Punch, Sleeping With Sirens, Coheed And Cambria, The Virginmarys, State Champs.